It was incredibly wonderful having my mother come and take care of us while I had Rowland and for the two weeks afterwards. She was the angel of cleaning, cooking, laundering, entertaining two busy, small, children, holding newborns, and keeping us all sane in the house. Then having my mother-in-law come and cook, clean, do laundry, help me get more settled in looking after three kids, and setting me up with a TON of freezer meals was another great blessing. I got lots of naps in for the month which made any bad night (which wasn't that often to be honest - other than the usual need to feed a new baby) durable. I feel much more back on my feet now than with either of my other two babies.
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| A girl always needs her mom! |
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| Grammy taking the grandkiddies to the zoo! |
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| Claudia keeping the sanity! |
We have all lived for two days now with just me and Steve at home. Today is my first day by myself, on the job all day. We've done pretty well I'd say - and haven't even had the TV on for the entirety of it! Yes! I feel I should update us all on how Ross and Ruby are doing lately.
Ross has been a rock star of a brother to Rowland. I can already tell they are going to be best buds. Ross LOVES holding him. If ever Rowland is laid down on the floor, (which is rare - since I'm terrified of Ruby - who wears shoes 24/7 and loves running around and stomping in them - stepping or kicking him on accident.) he stops what he's doing and lays by him, then immediately asks to hold him. He loves watching him yawn and sneeze the most, and is quite informative if Rowland cries.
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| I turned around one morning and found Ross snuggling his brother :) |
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| Best brother ever! |
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| Because every boy needs cowboy boots! (Thanks Grandma Claudia!) |
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| Ross calls them his Woody boots. |
Ross has learned how to spell his name and loves matching the letters of the alphabet to all his cars, trucks, airplanes, trains, and tractors. He still is obsessed with books and even will read (tell) the story to himself as he goes through the book. He's always wanted to know what words say - it will be so fun when he's reading more! He's also gotten in to singing a lot more. He has the sweetest voice. My memory cut out, but here's a sample that I love. :)
Ross has become even better friends with Ruby. He loves running around with her, chasing her, having her chase him, and he's incredibly patient with her tantrums. We always feel bad for him when we put him and Ruby to bed if Ruby is yelling at the top of her lungs. He's a real trooper. There's a reason his our oldest child - to keep the peace! He still is his dad's number one fan as well. :)
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| Doing some dusting... |
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| Or hanging off Dad's neck - one of the two. :) |
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| Experimenting with kinesio tape |
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| Giving dad a check up! |
His latest obsessions are the planes from Planes Fire and Rescue. He LOVES them (so does Ruby of course). He can get himself dressed and undressed for the most part, and has taken to jumping off the couch or the chair lately. He's a very cautious person, so it's taken a lot of dipping his feet in the pond before he's been ready to let himself fly off of something.
Speaking of feet - he always has to have socks on his feet before going to sleep, and FINALLY wants blankets on him - a proper tuck it. :)
Lately he's picked up my word, "Great" for everything from a satisfied feeling - to a sarcastic use of it. He says it JUST like I do too - it weirds me out almost - but it's pretty cute.
Ross likes to chat with me about Ruby too - like an adult conversation, discussing her progress and why she's in time out, or how to take care of her. He takes the role of older brother seriously. :)
His dance moves are the best. He even uses his hands and fingers as part of the entire ordeal. He loves twisting his hips and sliding all around.
He loves to slide around everywhere even when he's not dancing. He loves to help cook and clean still - seriously - what a great kid!
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| Making pancakes is hard work! |
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| Crazy cooks! |
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| Put to work! |
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| Enjoying the fruits of his cooking labors... |
Today I was trying to hook the hoist of his helicopter on to a plane for it to carry, and while I was trying to put it on, Ross looks at me with a huge smile and says, "Mommy, you're the best hooker!" Hahahaha! He was so sweet saying it to me as well.
He also likes to tell me when I'm actually showered, dressed, and have my contacts in that I'm pretty and that he doesn't like it when I wear glasses because it's weird....awesome. ;)
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| Silly face! |
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| This boy found my phone and took a picture. :) |
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| Love this face! |
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| He always has to be wrapped up in his bear towel like this before he goes to get jammies. He also must scare whoever is helping him get ready for bed too while being thus bear. (Ruby the ladybug is photo bombing in the background.) Current favorite bath toys: Whale, submarine, and Lightning McQueen (thanks Uncle Dallas). |
His favorite foods include: pizza and bread (breadsticks), goldfish, Eggos, spaghetti, oatmeal, carrots, sugar snap peas, peas, green beans, apples, bananas, eggs, sausage, bacon, and chicken nuggets (not the bread crumb coated ones though).
Ruby has been having less tantrums - which is much nicer. I think the daunting sense of change coming before Rowland was born maybe weighed on her. She's settled down a ton since he's come! She still likes to continue doing the naughty thing she's doing even after you tell her not too, but time-outs are more enforced which helps I think. Though - she has gotten MUCH MUCH pickier in eating. I can hardly get her to eat fruits and vegetables other than peas, green beans, bananas, grapes and MAYBE an apple sometimes. She used to love strawberries, carrots, sugar snap peas, oranges, and pears...but refuses them lately. BOO! BUT - I have found she LOVES salad (who is this two year old?) - mostly because I think she likes dipping the leaves in dressing, but at least it's something right? She still worships Mac and Cheese too.
This girl is VERY defined - she is extremely decisive about her wardrobe. She prefers NO shirt, NO pants, and ONLY shoes. That is how much she loves shoes. She doesn't need anything else! She ADORES her "pretty shoes" as she calls them. They are the silver and have heart shapes around the toes.
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| Brand spankin' new "pretty shoes" |
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| STILL on. |
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| Can you see the wear?! |
She loves them because she can easily get them on and off, they glimmer, and they make great stomping sounds around the house. We lost one in the couch for a day or two - she just replaced it with her old black "pretty shoe" that had been demoted - until we found it again. She also loves mittens and wants to wear those 24/7. Even to bed. I went in one night before I was going to sleep. She was in a dead sleep. I tried to pull one of them off and she snatched it to her chest and turned over so I couldn't reach it....EVEN IN HER SLEEP!
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| Quite the ensemble - Minnie Mouse shirt, twirly skirt, shoes, mittens, and cat in the hat hat. |
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| Have I mentioned this girl shows CRAZY signs she's ready for potty training???? I'M not ready! I let her put panties on over her diaper. Also note - the shoes. |
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| Her "woe with me" face. |
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| Ostrich Ruby |
She at least lets me do her hair - though she doesn't hold still. I can squeeze a little side braid in now. I need to get it evened out. I'm afraid to do it myself though...we'll see what happens.
She still lives for coloring - preferably painting, and has recently discovered stamps and LOVES them.
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| Static girl |
Her relationship with Rowland is, "Where's Baby Rowland?", finds him, gives him a kiss and runs off to play. Or, asks to hold him - gets to, and after two seconds pushes him away saying, "All done!". She's interested when he's eating, what's going on. She'll say to me, "He eatin' mom?" "He drinkin' mom?" Haha.
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| Helping with tummy time. |
I took just Ruby with me to the store the other day and had some nice girl time with her. She's such a fun girl - always looking for the excitement - just like her Daddy. :)
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| Shopping! |
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| Girl time! |
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| She's wearing a rain cloud! |
Stephen is doing quite the balancing act working, preparing inservices, starting up a wound care unit, working with the young men in our ward, spending time with the kids, taking care of his wife, and keeping his head above water for himself! He's such a hard worker and is always so concerned about our family's well being. He's wonderful and I'm so glad I have him.
We're hanging in there!
In other news our awesome friends the Vosses were actually passing through (okay ALMOST passing through - who passes through Lamar? Let's be honest.) on their way to an internship for optometry. We got to steal them for a night and catch up. Their little Henry and Ruby are only a couple weeks apart. It was so fun to see them and realized how alike Henry and Ross are: both have big heads and thick bodies, both gentle and a little sensitive, both obsessed with Disney's Cars. They are two peas in a pod!
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| Cute 2 year olds! |
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| We love these guys! |
Also, Rowland had his first bath after his cord fell off - here are the pics. He had mixed feelings! :)
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| Squeaky clean! |
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